Finance Minister says that decision on Alfred Mifsud’s current position is now down to the Central Bank board

The Malta Independent has spoken to the Finance Minister about whether Alfred Mifsud is to retain his current position of Central Bank deputy governor.

The Finance Minister explained that he has consulted with the European Central Bank and been told that while nominees for the post of governor and deputy governor may be chosen by the government, decisions on the fate of actual incumbents may not be taken by the government but must be taken by the Central Bank itself – that is, by the board.

The government had had confirmation of this already when incoming Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tried to force the resignation of the Central Bank’s governor, Josef Bonnici, to install his former employer Alfred Mifsud instead, and was unable to do so. It was at that point that he decided to create a second deputy governorship at the Central Bank for Mifsud.

“The government cannot interfere in decisions at the Central Bank,” the Finance Minister said.

I may be wrong, but I get the feeling here that Scicluna would very much prefer it if Mifsud were to step down or be removed, and that one of the reasons he consulted with the European Central Bank was to see whether he is empowered to force the issue himself (and found out that he is not).

When speaking to the press a few days ago, he volunteered the comment that “one has to consider possible implications of criminal acts which impinge on (Mifsud’s) current position”.

The fact remains that the deputy governor of the Central Bank is now being investigated by the Police Economic Crimes Unit. The investigation alone, regardless of its eventual outcome, makes his position completely untenable. But then the Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff are under investigation by this country’s fiscal and anti-money-laundering authorities and he too has retained his position as though this is perfectly all right.